Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Intestinal Bacteria

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Intestinal Bacteria

Tue Mar 26, 1:40 PM ET

By Drex Earle

ATLANTA (Reuters Health) - Certain types of intestinal bacteria could be linked

to the development

and progression of rheumatoid arthritis, according to the results of a new

study.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the body's immune system attacks joint tissues, leading

to damage in many

parts of the body, including bone, cartilage and various internal organs. The

disease can cause

severe disabilities, particularly in older people, and its exact causes are

still not known.

Recent attention has been focused on the role that bacteria living in the

intestines might play in

rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers suggest different types of intestinal bacteria

and their end

products could be responsible for stimulating the development of the disease in

other parts of the

body.

Scientists from Turku University in Finland recently conducted a study comparing

fecal samples from

25 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 23 " control " patients without the disease

who were suffering

from noninflammatory pain.

Dr. Paavo Toivanen, a microbiologist working on the study, presented the

findings here Monday at the

2002 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

" Rheumatoid arthritis patients were in the early stage of the disease, were not

using any

immunosuppressives, and were excluded from the study if they indicated previous

usage of antibiotics

within the last 2 months, " he told Reuters Health.

Using chemical probes based on a technique developed in their laboratory, the

scientists were able

to identify a variety of anaerobic bacterial strains, which represent one third

to one half of all

the bacteria residing in the intestine. " Anaerobic " means the bacteria do not

need oxygen to

survive.

The researchers found that rheumatoid arthritis patients had markedly less

bacteria belonging to the

Bacteroides, Prevotella and Porphyromonas families in their guts than controls

(4.7% versus 9.5%,

respectively), and this result was confirmed using one of the bacteria-specific

probes.

Toivanen suggested these strains could be important in maintaining a barrier for

the intestinal

wall. " These bacteria may initially be necessary to fortify the intestinal

epithelium, " or lining,

Toivanen concluded.

Patients with less of these bacteria in their intestines may have a weaker

intestinal barrier, he

and his colleagues suggest, which could somehow predispose them to developing

rheumatoid arthritis

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